Landmark Global, a leader in cross-border e-commerce delivery and international logistics solutions, has released its Cross-Border Confidence Index.
Conducted among 2,000 U.S. and Canadian consumers, the research reveals a widening gap between North American consumers’ interest in global brands and their confidence in the cross-border e-commerce shopping experience.
North American consumers have more access than ever to international brands through marketplaces, social commerce, and direct-to-consumer expansion. However, Landmark Global’s Index shows that access does not equal conversion. Concerns around hidden costs, delivery uncertainty, and complicated returns are driving pre-purchase hesitation, causing consumers to opt out before checkout. For brands, this shifts the challenge from driving demand to removing friction, making cost transparency, delivery predictability, and returns simplicity critical levers for converting global interest into revenue, said the company.
“The challenge for brands today isn’t reaching global customers, it’s delivering an experience they can trust,” said James Edge, Chief Executive Officer, Landmark Global. “As cross-border e-commerce becomes more complex with tariffs, shifting trade lanes, and evolving regulations, companies need a more integrated approach that brings together data, customs expertise, and fulfillment strategy. The brands that solve for that complexity will be the ones that unlock the next phase of global growth.”
At the centre of consumer hesitation is a growing lack of trust in the total cost of international purchases. Landmark Global’s Index shows that 43% of North American consumers are deterred by hidden duties and taxes, making it the top barrier to cross-border e-commerce. This concern is even more pronounced in Canada, where 59% of consumers cite hidden costs as a key barrier, whereas U.S. consumers are more likely to cite delivery delays (38%) as a primary concern. An additional 32% of North Americans cite surprise delivery fees, reinforcing that the issue isn’t solely about cost but the unpredictability surrounding it, according to the report.
Nearly seven in 10 (69%) of North American consumers say they would be more likely to complete a purchase if duties and taxes were prepaid at checkout, with 73% of Canadian consumers and 65% in the U.S. This highlights a clear opportunity for brands to improve conversion by eliminating ambiguity. These findings point to a fundamental shift: consumers are not rejecting cross-border e-commerce; they are rejecting experiences where the final price is unclear, added Landmark.
“Delivery delays are a concern, as observed in 32% of North American consumers. Findings suggest that speed is no longer the primary issue – it’s certainty. North American consumers are willing to wait for international orders, but only if expectations are clearly set. Simultaneously, expectations are tightening. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of North American consumers expect international orders to arrive within two weeks or less, and 21% expect delivery within one week, signaling that cross-border shipping is now being judged against domestic e-commerce standards.
For brands, the ability to provide consistent, reliable delivery timelines is becoming more important than simply offering the fastest option,” it said.
“The Index also reveals that returns are no longer a post-purchase thought; they are influencing decisions much earlier in the buying journey. In fact, 41% of North American consumers note they would be more likely to purchase if returns could be handled locally, while 24% cite complicated returns as a key concern when shopping internationally. This indicates a growing shift toward pre-purchase risk assessment, in which consumers factor in the difficulty of returning an item before committing to a purchase. Returns are evolving from an operational afterthought into a critical component of the overall customer experience.
“Cross-border e-commerce is becoming less about enabling access and more about managing complexity. As tariffs shift, trade lanes evolve, and compliance requirements tighten, the challenge for brands is no longer just reaching international customers, but doing so in a way that is consistent, compliant, and scalable across markets.”
Insights from James Edge
Question: Your data shows that unexpected duties and taxes are the biggest reason consumers abandon cross-border purchases — why are so many retailers still failing to provide landed-cost transparency at checkout?
Answer: Many retailers still underestimate how difficult landed-cost accuracy is. It’s not as simple as adding a tax line at checkout. Retailers need accurate product data, customs classification, broker input and a real-time understanding of how regulations, tariffs and duties are changing across different markets and shipping lanes.
That’s where the disconnect happens. Many retailers are still relying on fragmented systems or outdated information, while market conditions such as tariffs and duties shift in real-time, making it difficult to stay agile and accurate. The consumer lacks visibility into the operational complexity behind cross-border commerce. They just see a surprise bill at delivery or checkout, and our data shows that’s enough to make them walk away.
Q: The report suggests shoppers want local returns options. What operational or financial barriers are preventing retailers from offering seamless domestic-style returns for international orders?
A: The demand for domestic-style returns exists, but they are hard to make work economically if the retailer hasn’t built the right network to support them. Once an international order comes back, someone has to move it, clear it, inspect it, decide whether it can be resold, and either restock or dispose of it, and each step adds cost.
Retailers that solve this process friction treat returns as part of the cross-border experience from the start, with clear customs processes and enough visibility to know where that product should go next.
Q: Are Canadian and U.S. consumers behaving differently when it comes to cross-border shopping expectations, and what does that reveal about the maturity of the market?
A: Across Canadian and U.S. markets, both want more certainty, but they still face different pain points. In Canada, the issue is much more about cost transparency, with 59% of consumers citing hidden duties and taxes as a barrier and 73% saying they’d be more likely to buy if costs were prepaid at checkout.
In the U.S., delivery delays are the bigger concern at 38%, which suggests the market is maturing in two directions: Canadian shoppers are highly sensitive to total landed cost, while U.S. shoppers are increasingly judging cross-border purchases against the speed and predictability they expect from domestic e-commerce.
Q: How much of the trust gap in cross-border e-commerce is a logistics problem versus a communication problem between retailers and consumers?
A: The trust gap is rooted in logistics complexity, but consumers experience it as a communication problem. Cross-border e-commerce is evolving due to shifting duties and taxes, changing customs requirements, fluctuating shipping costs and complicated international returns. Those are real operational challenges retailers must face and coordinate behind the scenes.
However, from the customer’s perspective, trust breaks down when those complexities are not communicated up front. If a shopper encounters hidden service fees or even vague delivery timelines, confidence quickly disappears. Consumers know that cross-border shopping isn’t simple, but they do expect transparency and predictability.
Q: What practical changes should retailers prioritize over the next 12 months if they want to reduce cart abandonment and build long-term consumer confidence in international shopping?
A: Retailers should work to make the cross-border e-commerce experience seem less risky before shoppers click “buy.” The initial focus should be on refining the fundamentals behind the scenes: precise product classification, enhanced customs data, and improved lane-by-lane planning to clearly display duties, taxes, and delivery windows at checkout.
Following that, the experience should be made more local-like with prepaid landed costs, realistic delivery estimates, and straightforward returns. Customers are not against international brands; they just dislike unexpected charges and delays.
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